Police are looking for the hateful menace who harassed a non-binary victim with a broomstick in Marine Park on April 12.
According to authorities, the suspect approached the non-binary victim on the corner of E. 36 Street and Flatlands Avenue at around 10:10 p.m., before accosting them with anti-LGBTQIA+ remarks.
The situation was unprovoked, and the victim did not know the assailant.
After hurling the bigoted remarks at the victim, the suspect tossed a cigarette in their direction.
The victim attempted to escalate the situation, but the prejudiced aggressor continued. After the war-of-words, the suspect began chasing the victim in a threatening manner with a wooden broomstick.
Thankfully, the victim was physically unharmed in the altercation.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident, as the motive appears to be based on the victim being non-binary.
According to authorities, the wanted individual is a male with a light complexion, standing approximately 5’7” tall with a slim build.
As of April 16, when the most recent NYPD data is available, police have recorded 123 hate crimes throughout the five boroughs this year. This was the first recorded hate crime in the 63rd Police Precinct, where the April 12 harassment took place.
The incident came just days after another anti-LGBTQIA+ incident in southern Brooklyn, when a vandal desecrated a pride flag that had been hanging outside a Mexican restaurant in Bay Ridge on April 8. In that incident, the ravager tore the rainbow flag down and burned it on the sidewalk.
Earlier this year, another Brooklynite was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attacking a pair of men, who the assailant incorrectly believed to be a romantic couple — stabbing the men in a Bushwick bodega.
No arrests have been made in the Marine Park harassment incident.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
All calls are strictly confidential.
